Learnway

Learnway was a strategic project that marked a significant evolution for Drool. While it didn’t achieve commercial success, it became the catalyst that transformed our agency from a design-only service into a full-stack development partner - and opened my eyes to the exciting world of AI and development.

The Strategic Challenge

At Drool, we had established ourselves as a trusted design partner for startups, but I saw an opportunity to expand our capabilities. Many of our clients were asking if we could handle the development side of their projects as well. The market was demanding full-stack solutions, and I wanted to position Drool at the forefront of this trend.

Rather than just adding development as a service offering, I decided we needed to prove ourselves through action. We needed a real project that would challenge us, push our boundaries, and demonstrate our development capabilities. That’s when the idea for Learnway was born.

The YC Ambition

Summer 2024 brought an exciting opportunity - Y Combinator had just announced their first-ever Fall batch, with applications due by August 27th. This was perfect timing. I decided to set an ambitious goal: we would design and develop a complete MVP within just two months, and aim for YC acceptance.

The challenge was intentional. By setting such a tight deadline and aiming for the gold standard of startup accelerators, we would be forced to operate at the highest level and truly test our development capabilities.

The Product Vision

Learnway was designed to be an AI-powered learning path generator that would streamline the workflow of founders and freelancers working on new projects. The core insight was that people were constantly switching between multiple platforms when learning new skills, creating friction and reducing productivity.

Key Features We Built:

• AI-Assisted Pathway Generation: Automatically built sequences of steps tailored to project requirements
• Node-Based Visual Interface: Used React Flow to create an intuitive visual representation of learning steps
• Curated Content Integration: Selected the best resources from across the internet, including videos, articles, and assets
• Real-Time AI Agent: Addressed doubts and adjusted learning pathways as projects evolved
• Integrated Tools: Included quizzes, community features, and note-taking capabilities

The Technical Challenge

Building Learnway in just two months required us to leverage the latest technologies and work at an unprecedented pace. We chose a modern tech stack that would allow us to move fast while maintaining quality:

• Next.js 14 with App Router for the frontend
• tRPC for type-safe API communication
• Supabase for database and authentication
• Langchain & Langgraph for AI integration
• React Flow for the node-based interface
• Shadcn UI for consistent design components

The most challenging aspect was creating the AI-powered learning path generation system. We had to build custom scraping tools, integrate multiple AI models, and create a queue system to handle the computational load of generating personalized learning paths.

The YC Journey

We successfully completed the MVP within our two-month deadline and submitted our application to Y Combinator’s Fall 2024 batch. The application process itself was invaluable - it forced us to articulate our vision clearly, understand our market, and present our technical capabilities convincingly.

Unfortunately, Learnway wasn’t selected for the YC batch. While this was disappointing, it didn’t diminish the value of what we had accomplished. The project had already achieved its primary goal: proving that Drool could deliver high-quality development services alongside our design expertise.

The Real Victory

Although Learnway didn’t become a financial success, it was transformative for both Drool and my personal growth as a founder. The project achieved something even more valuable than YC acceptance - it opened entirely new possibilities for our agency.

What We Gained:

• Development Capabilities: We successfully added frontend development to Drool’s service offerings, now positioned as an MVP development service
• AI Expertise: Working with Langchain and AI models gave us deep insights into the rapidly evolving AI landscape
• Design Evolution: Building a complex interface improved my skills as a designer, giving me practical insights into what’s possible and what’s not when creating realistic, user-friendly interfaces
• Technical Credibility: Having a full-stack project in our portfolio opened doors to more sophisticated client projects

Current Status and Future Impact

Today, Learnway exists as an archived project on GitHub, but its impact continues to resonate through Drool’s expanded capabilities. The MVP development service we now offer directly stems from the confidence and skills we gained through this project.

The experience taught me that sometimes the most valuable ventures aren’t the ones that succeed commercially, but the ones that push you to grow in unexpected ways. Learnway didn’t make us money, but it made us better - as developers, designers, and strategic thinkers.

For any founder considering a similar challenge, I’d recommend it. Sometimes the best way to prove you can do something is to set an ambitious goal and just do it. The journey itself becomes the real product.